One of the many ways you can use the puree for – serving it as a side dish to a Wagyu steak and a side salad.

This can’t be right, it’s February 28 already! Better get one post up, or else it will be too quiet in the blog.

I’m still here, folks. Still cooking, procrastinating, scheming. All good.

Truth of the matter is, as an ode to getting myself back in shape, I returned to the trusted regime of Cardiologist Doctor Agatston’s South Beach Diet. On February 12, I started the gruelling Phase 1, where I am not to eat any carbohydrate in any form. This is utterly necessary to reset your blood sugar level and vanish all the bad cravings that one very often gets from processed foods.

For 14 days I said so long to apples or (any) fruits, rice and potatoes. No caffeinated drink or alcohol intake. Shun them all. In the book the doc gave a list of food that can be consumed, along with some recipes to accompany it. To keep it simple and not to over think it, I tend to just follow whatever Doc suggested or getting some inspiration from Kalyn’s Kitchen.

Which is precisely why I haven’t bothered to blog. Between the Doc and Kalyn, my own creation were not exactly exciting. I tend to just stick to what my colleagues called “bird food”. Steamed broccoli with mozuku, steamed cauliflower with some salad dressing. Whenever I go out, club soda was my dear friend. That and paprika. And tomato. You know… that kind of stuff.

On February 26, I am finally allowed the good carbs back again. Having lost 5.5 kg in the 2 weeks (even with some minor misdemeanor – consuming a small amount of strawberries and a few dropping of flours at some dinner function), I am determined not to go back too quickly to carbs. I’ll ease myself into that and stick to the good carbs listing. This is not going to be good if I fall off the wagon too quickly, can’t stomach another Phase 1 so soon.

Anyhow, that’s basically how I then come up with my version of mashed potato. Actually it is more of a puree. I read in a lot of health publications that the best alternative for mashed potato is mashed cauliflower. I’ve done the straight mashed cauliflower in chicken broth before, but it was a little too bitter to my liking and tasted very healthy. A little too healthy, if you ask me. You know, that feeling when you just drank a small glass of Kale and spinach juice? That’s how I felt when I ate straight cauliflower mash. Did some investigation online, some recipes were recommending onion, but I thought of something rather different. Sweet potato or Japanese ‘kabocha’ came to mind. I have both of them in the pantry. Both has lots of fiber and high on the recommended list of Phase 2 consumption. Judging from the fact that peeling ‘kabocha’ can be a battle – that I didn’t care for since I was already so hungry – the sweet potato came as my next best thing. The result was superb and I am delighted to share it with you here.

Cauliflower florets and chopped sweet potato

Soy milk covering the vegetables

Puree in the making with immersion blender

Finished product

One of the many ways you can use the puree for – serving it as a side dish to a Wagyu steak and a side salad.

Cauliflower + Sweet Potato + Soymilk Creamy Puree

Ingredients:

1 head of cauliflower, cut into florets

1 medium sweet potato, peel and cut into small rounds

1 liter soy milk (I’m sure you can use regular milk, but I prefer soy)

salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Put cauliflower and sweet potato in a heavy-bottomed pot

Pour the soy milk over the cauliflower and sweet potato until it just covers it

Put the pot lid on and bring the mix to a boil

Take off the lid, put it sideways so the pot was semi covered, and simmer for 20 minutes until both cauliflower and sweet potato are tender

Puree the mix using an immersion blender in the pan

Season with salt and pepper

Ready to serve

*Serves 6-8, depending on how much you want to eat! 🙂

**Can be made ahead, refrigerate well for 1 week. Reheat and serve immediately.